Qwixx Scoring, Explained

Qwixx's scoring table looks unremarkable at a glance — just a row of numbers to count marks against — but the table isn't linear, and that single fact is the entire reason locking a row late in the game is worth chasing even when it costs several turns' worth of otherwise-useless marks to get there.

The triangular point table

Marks in a row score cumulatively, not per-mark: 1 mark = 1 point, 2 marks = 3, 3 marks = 6, 4 = 10, 5 = 15, 6 = 21, 7 = 28, 8 = 36, 9 = 45, 10 = 55, 11 = 66, and 12 marks (including the lock) = 78 points. Each additional mark is worth MORE than the one before it, not the same amount — which is the opposite of how most tally-based scoring works.

Worked example 1: two rows with very different mark counts

A player's red row has 4 marks crossed off: 10 points. Their yellow row has 9 marks crossed off: 45 points. Even though yellow has only about twice the marks of red, it scores more than four times as many points — 45 versus 10 — because of how sharply the table climbs rather than scaling evenly per mark.

Worked example 2: a locked row's true value, marks plus the lock itself

A player completes 11 marks in their green row and then crosses off the twelfth, final number, locking the row. Under the table above, that's the full 12-mark value: 78 points for that row alone — nearly as much as every other row on the same scoresheet combined might total for a typical mid-length game.

Worked example 3: totaling all four rows plus penalties on one full scoresheet

A player's final scoresheet: red 6 marks (21 points), yellow 3 marks (6 points), green 8 marks (36 points), blue 5 marks (15 points), and 2 penalty boxes marked (2 × -5 = -10). Total: 21 + 6 + 36 + 15 - 10 = 68 points.

Worked example 4: why one more mark near the end is worth chasing

A player already has 8 marks in their blue row (36 points) and is deciding whether to spend a turn extending it to 9 (45 points) — a 9-point gain for one mark — versus starting fresh progress on an almost-untouched row where the first mark would only be worth 1 point on its own. The triangular table means the marginal value of a row's next mark climbs the further along that row already is, which is exactly why experienced players concentrate marks in fewer rows rather than spreading them evenly across all four.

Worked example 5: penalties eating into a strong scoresheet

A player has a genuinely excellent scoresheet — red at 7 marks (28), yellow at 6 marks (21), for 49 points combined from just two rows — but accumulated 3 penalty boxes over a cautious game where they often couldn't find a legal mark to make: 3 × -5 = -15. Even with two strong rows, the penalties bring their total for those two colors effectively down to 34 net, which is why avoiding penalties matters just as much as building up any individual row, especially for a player who's otherwise playing a tight, high-scoring game.

Worked example 6: comparing two very different scoresheet shapes with similar totals

Player A spreads marks evenly: 5 in each of the four rows (15 points × 4 = 60 total, no penalties). Player B concentrates heavily: 9 marks in one row (45), 4 marks in a second (10), and nothing at all in the remaining two rows, with one penalty (-5): 45 + 10 - 5 = 50. Despite Player B's dramatic 9-mark row, the more evenly-spread Player A actually finishes with a higher total — a reminder that the triangular table rewards concentration only up to a point; four modest rows can outscore one spectacular one plus two empty rows.

Worked example 7: the game-ending trigger and a final scoresheet snapshot

The game ends the instant a fourth penalty box gets marked by any player, or as soon as two different color rows have been locked across the whole table — whichever happens first. Suppose the game ends because a second row gets locked: at that exact moment, every player's scoresheet is totaled exactly as it stands, with no further turns to improve a weak row. A player caught with several nearly-complete but unlocked rows (say, 10 marks in blue but not yet locked, worth 55 rather than the 78 a completed lock would have earned) simply banks whatever their sheet shows, since the game doesn't wait for anyone to finish catching up once the ending condition is triggered.

Worked example 8: why a near-complete row still beats an abandoned one

A player has 10 marks in their yellow row (55 points) but never locked it before the game ended, versus a different row they gave up on entirely after just 2 marks (3 points). The unfinished yellow row, even without ever reaching the lock, is still worth eighteen times more than the abandoned row — reinforcing that steady progress toward a lock is valuable on its own, well before the lock itself is actually reached, rather than being an all-or-nothing bet on completing a row.

The fastest way to total a scoresheet

1. Count marks in each of the four rows separately, including the lock symbol as the final mark if that row was completed.
2. Look up each row's mark count in the triangular table (1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, 55, 66, 78) rather than multiplying mark count by a flat per-mark value.
3. Subtract 5 points for every penalty box marked, regardless of how many marks any row has.
4. Add all four row totals together, then subtract the penalty total, for the final score.

For the exact rules on crossing off numbers, locking a row, and when a penalty box is forced, see the full Qwixx rules for the complete turn structure this scoring is built on.